Kloofsig residents in Centurion are still suffering from frequent and prolonged blackouts, despite the metro’s installation of a second cable in an attempt to prevent overloading.

The issues began when the Kloofsig power station burnt down in December last year and power was sourced from the Waterkloof and Die Hoewes substations to keep the lights in the area on.

This puts extreme pressure on the two substations, which struggle to cope with the extra load.

Resident Beren Bauermeister said the community was fed up and tired of hearing the same old excuses.

Among other issues, residents can’t understand why the Kenton substation was being upgraded while the Kloofsig substation was not being repaired.

“We feel that the promises council gives us are not being delivered on.

“Our power is off for days at a time,” she said.

Resident Johann van Staden said the situation has become unacceptable with power outages lasting between 18 to 20 hours at a time.

“At least when you have load-shedding you can plan and prepare for it.

“But we have no idea when the power will go out and how long we will have to wait for it to come on again.

“Another thing that bothers me is that it has started damaging our electronics.

Van Staden, who works from home, said the outages cost him a tremendous amount of money.

“I have a diesel generator and diesel is getting more and more expensive.

“It costs me around R500 a day for the diesel my generator uses,” he said.

Residents also fear that these outages make it easier for criminals to strike.

“When the lights are out, it is pitch black outside at night and easier for thieves to break in,” said Van Staden.

Ward councilor David Farquharson hoped that the new developments on the substation would relieve the problems to some extent.

“We are bitterly disappointed that the cutting in of a second cable has nots topped overload outages in the area.

“We need to know what the problems are that are causing these cables to fail.

“Over the weekend, we asked the metro officials responsible for the electricity supply and the region for a plan of action to stop these outages.

“We will communicate as soon as we receive information,” he said.

Thank you REKORD for the article